Dozens killed and hundreds injured by swarms of giant hornets

I've seen videos of these marvellous creatures before and looked into them. I'm pretty sure quite a few Japanese people die from stings annually,
and this doesn't sound out of the ordinary to me from what I remember. I'll just check though...

Yes, according to en.wikipedia.org... there are 30-40 deaths each year. As we are at the end of September we are pretty
much on target for an average year. It's just media sensationalism of something not understood, or a lack of genuine news items.

Good god,as if my fear of bees and hornets needed some on steroids added to it. I cannot even imagine the terror and pain those poor people went
through. Over 200 stings from those? I get one from a regular bee and I'm crying like a baby.

No, they're similar to the Giant Hornet in Japan. Those are scary creatures, who are only here to screw with people. A couple of Japanese hornets
can completely wipe out a European honey bee hive in 15 minutes or less. They have been known to kill a few people every year as well.

I went out to one of my local parks, and along one side of the trail, I heard a loud buzzing noise coming from one of the bushes that had red berries
growing on it. When I went closer to see what was causing the buzzing (coming from the woods myself, I was taught that if I hear a loud buzzing,
chances are, a hornet's nest is close by; I wanted to verify because some young kids were farther behind me), I found that there were several of
these nasty buggers.

On the way back, I kept warning people about these giant wasps on the side of the trail (looking back, I'm sure I sounded like I was drinking or
stoned). The next day, one of the wasps got overly curious about me, and started to follow me around the park (By this time, I was running - that wasp
kept up with me until I went off under the trees).

Found out later that the wasp goes by the name "cicada killer" here (or Japanese Hornets elsewhere). Also, supposedly they are really docile, and
only will attempt to attack you if you attack them first. I was so disappointed when I found out that it wasn't a cryptid, and that they were already
named.

Just make sure you don't get one mad at you - apparently, not only do they not lose their stinger, but they can fly fast, and release a chemical
letting other hornets in the area know that you are a threat (I didn't like having the one come after me; hate to have a swarm following my rear).

This summer in Tx I had more wasp nests and wasps than I've ever seen, they were building nests under the hood of my trucks, on my porch. There were
thousands everyday just buzzin all around me mid Aug, I think they eradicated the carpenter bees which was fine with me. I kept saying I was gonna
exterminate them but I never got stung not once even I just let them beeeeee! Now their gone and I feel good about not having Jihad thousands of
wasps.

Those hornets in France are about half to the size of the Chinese or Japanese giant hornet. 2.5-3.5mm for the French hornet and 5-6mm for the
Chinese/Japanese giant hornet. I remember watching a documentary on NatGeo not too long ago about these monster hornets. Apparently they are a
delicacy and some villagers catch them in nets and cook them up and eat them. The "guest" who went with the villagers got stung twice, became
nauseous and said he had never experience that much pain before. Nasty creatures.

AlliumIslelily
This is terrifying. It makes me think of the giant mosquitoes from Jumanji. It seems like every day something terrifying from childhood fiction
becomes reality.

EDIT: An interesting thought posted by someone on the second source article...

Here, in the US many are saying insects are becoming more aggressive. Among those who eat healthy and avoid toxic substances such as toxic
personal care products, insects seem to accept those people as part of nature..as if those individuals pose no threat. We also question, along with
other environmental triggers, is exposure to toxins causing insect venom to be more toxic, too.

edit on 26-9-2013 by AlliumIslelily
because: (no reason given)

Interesting article you presented there. isn't showing up when I post so - toxic substances may attract insects and make them more aggressive. Be
healthy and natural and they will see you as a part of nature. It seems reasonable. I got stung over a hundred times by an angry mob of bees as a kid
and they haven't bothered me since. Have no idea why.

That's what I thought also, but it's far too big, even for a queen, and from my research, it wouldn't be flying solo, pretty much everyday, at
varying times of day, for almost 2 months. There was never another hornet, wasp, bee, etc, in sight. And though we had a few nests around, they
definitely did not belong to this beast. So I figured it must be a solitary wasp, but when I researched them, nothing fit....?

I still find it odd how some folks just jump to the conclusion
that this is some god sent plague, or some genetically modified
monster, or that they are somehow more attracted to people
who don't eat right or something lol

The irony in all of this is a fellow clearly stated that these things
have been killing people every single year since we have known
of their existence yet somehow this oddity means all of that stuff
and more......

Why cant an oddity happen and things go back to semi normal?
Why must it always be the extreme? This reminds me of the
so called killer bee craze, while yes its something to watch
and can even be dangerous, its not supernatural or even that
amazing, its what happens when two competing species via for
the same resources.

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